[AP/International Herald Tribune] A group of female TV anchors from government-run Palestine TV marched through Gaza City on Sunday to protest the threat from a group calling itself the Swords of Truth to behead them if they did not don modest Islamic dress. "We will cut throats...if needed to protect the spirit and morals of this nation," the group said in a statement Friday, accusing the female anchors of being "without any...shame or morals." Most of the 15 female anchors on Palestine TV wear headscarves, but they also wear makeup and Western clothing. Headscarves are uncommon on television in Lebanon and Jordan, and Egypt's secular regime keeps newscasters who wear them off its TV stations. Yet hard-line Islam has been on the rise in Gaza in recent years, and today it is more common to see women with their entire face covered with a veil - once an extremely rare practice in the Palestinian territories - than it is to see women with their hair uncovered.
2007-06-04 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive